Apple Tree Hall
school of
Witchcraft and Wizardry
:-)
school of
Witchcraft and Wizardry
:-)
Monday, August 6, 2012
Names?
Lately I've been thinking that my goal of unifying the Western Tradition in an educational form I might have to consider sub-titling the school differently. Rather than a school of esoteric philosophy and western mysticism.... how about:
Core curriculum
I've been thinking about the structure of the core curriculum as well as considering options for electives. For example, I think it might be interesting to do a course on Butler's Lords of Light or other books. Perhaps some of the smaller Fortune books even. I've got to find out about publishing, licensing, royalties, etc... Last I checked Butler wasn't even being published in North America and if I wanted to include an article here or there in the coursepack I'd need to work something out. It's not like an initiatory organization where I can publish anything I want to "oathbound members" without paying royalties.
But if such secondary things are going to be future projects, then the core must be even more elaborate. Not only do we need to offer a viable path of development but must lay the philosophical foundation for future work. Students should understand the basic philosophies and cosmology of the WMT so that when they read Butler or someone making reference to different ideas they know what is being discussed. I realise this requires a rather extensive focus on the Hermetic Qabalah.
After a discussion with a fellow occultists who is working on a "purer" system of the Cube of Space and other aspects, I realised that there are good reasons for our system to be a little bit different than the purely Hebraic system. Quite simply, we're on a different current.
Lots is said about currents, but I think they make a difference, though any superiority of current is really based on one's temperament, energy, history, etc... more than anything else. In the Hebrew tradition one would only begin to study Kabbalah after a lifetime of studying Torah and Talmud, of performing the prayers for waking, and the prayers for sleeping, of attending synagogue, services, and having lived and raised one's children in a Jewish environment. The usual age is 40. Now we're not "individual" in any true sense but exist as part of a field of experience. That kind of lifestyle will attune one to a specific current.
Those of us who have grown up in what we might call "Western Christocentric Society" (whether or not we are personally Christians, our environment certainly is) have an entirely different vibration, a different current, a different experience altogether. I think this was, perhaps, part of the reason why certain things were changed over the last few hundred years. If it's a living tradition then things will change, and it is important to understand that certain correspondences are not empirical, but form a symbolic language and, just like any language, the importance is internal consistency.
This is not to knock the more traditional Hebrew approaches, correspondences, or methods, but only to say that this is our tradition, and that is theirs. The Western Mysteries use the Qabalah as a scaffold upon which to build. We use the words in order to give our minds terms with which to think and communicate about complex spiritual concepts. Our tradition is a synthesis for it is Pan-Religious and Pan-Theist taking what is best and of value from all places. Our temple is built of "gold from Ophir and ceder from Lebanon."
So a focus on this Qabalistic system must form a significant part of the core curriculum. It will give the keys to understanding Fortune, Butler, Case, Regardie, Knight, and many, many others of our great 20th and 21st century writers. I'm considering an early (1000 level) elective based on some book on Qabalah, but have not decided which. The Mystical Qabalah is massive, and a LOT of work, though perhaps it might make 2 semesters. I've had The Chicken Kabbalah recommended but have not read it yet. I have other work by Waite and Westcott, but they need updating, both in language and our understanding of the world.
The core will be intense, and as I think about royalties for the course packs I begin to wonder if my rate schedule isn't a little optimistic.I still haven't priced a test course-pack for printing and shipping but I'm thinking that the $50 per course is going to be a little thin, especially if I want colour diagrams and copyrighted articles. We'll have to see though, there's lots of time.
But if such secondary things are going to be future projects, then the core must be even more elaborate. Not only do we need to offer a viable path of development but must lay the philosophical foundation for future work. Students should understand the basic philosophies and cosmology of the WMT so that when they read Butler or someone making reference to different ideas they know what is being discussed. I realise this requires a rather extensive focus on the Hermetic Qabalah.
After a discussion with a fellow occultists who is working on a "purer" system of the Cube of Space and other aspects, I realised that there are good reasons for our system to be a little bit different than the purely Hebraic system. Quite simply, we're on a different current.
Lots is said about currents, but I think they make a difference, though any superiority of current is really based on one's temperament, energy, history, etc... more than anything else. In the Hebrew tradition one would only begin to study Kabbalah after a lifetime of studying Torah and Talmud, of performing the prayers for waking, and the prayers for sleeping, of attending synagogue, services, and having lived and raised one's children in a Jewish environment. The usual age is 40. Now we're not "individual" in any true sense but exist as part of a field of experience. That kind of lifestyle will attune one to a specific current.
Those of us who have grown up in what we might call "Western Christocentric Society" (whether or not we are personally Christians, our environment certainly is) have an entirely different vibration, a different current, a different experience altogether. I think this was, perhaps, part of the reason why certain things were changed over the last few hundred years. If it's a living tradition then things will change, and it is important to understand that certain correspondences are not empirical, but form a symbolic language and, just like any language, the importance is internal consistency.
This is not to knock the more traditional Hebrew approaches, correspondences, or methods, but only to say that this is our tradition, and that is theirs. The Western Mysteries use the Qabalah as a scaffold upon which to build. We use the words in order to give our minds terms with which to think and communicate about complex spiritual concepts. Our tradition is a synthesis for it is Pan-Religious and Pan-Theist taking what is best and of value from all places. Our temple is built of "gold from Ophir and ceder from Lebanon."
So a focus on this Qabalistic system must form a significant part of the core curriculum. It will give the keys to understanding Fortune, Butler, Case, Regardie, Knight, and many, many others of our great 20th and 21st century writers. I'm considering an early (1000 level) elective based on some book on Qabalah, but have not decided which. The Mystical Qabalah is massive, and a LOT of work, though perhaps it might make 2 semesters. I've had The Chicken Kabbalah recommended but have not read it yet. I have other work by Waite and Westcott, but they need updating, both in language and our understanding of the world.
The core will be intense, and as I think about royalties for the course packs I begin to wonder if my rate schedule isn't a little optimistic.I still haven't priced a test course-pack for printing and shipping but I'm thinking that the $50 per course is going to be a little thin, especially if I want colour diagrams and copyrighted articles. We'll have to see though, there's lots of time.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Doctrine Draft
I'm trying to draft a general doctrine document to put on the website. The idea being that our tradition has certain foundations of belief and experience of which a prospective student should be aware before signing up for courses. Of course I'm struggling with my verbosity as usual. Great for lessons and student questions, not so much for trying to outline something concisely.
Feedback appreciated. Draft and incomplete...
The universe is alive. Everything in it is a living manifestation of the Life-Power, the One-Force, the Limitless Light or whatever name you wish to use. This Force flows into the physical universe from above and there are many “dimensions” or “worlds” or “levels” of existence of which the physical world is but one. We may think of this in terms of the Energy or Force vibrating at different levels and flowing down into lower vibratory rates.
Feedback appreciated. Draft and incomplete...
The universe is alive. Everything in it is a living manifestation of the Life-Power, the One-Force, the Limitless Light or whatever name you wish to use. This Force flows into the physical universe from above and there are many “dimensions” or “worlds” or “levels” of existence of which the physical world is but one. We may think of this in terms of the Energy or Force vibrating at different levels and flowing down into lower vibratory rates.
The universe is plastic. Changes can be made in the energy or Prima Materia of the universe which will manifest as changes in the physical world. This is subject, of course, to natural laws and certain limitations but just as your subconscious mind can affect your state of consciousness, emotions and the interpretation of experience, so too do changes “up stream” in the energy flow cause changes in the material world. Ideas shape our physical reality and our perceptions thereof.
All Gods, Goddesses, Archangels, People, Animals, Plants, Rocks, Soil, Sand, Stars, Dark Matter, whatever, are all expressions of and shapes taken by this energy on various levels of existence. They are all manifestations of the same Light.
There are many ways of seeing Gods, Goddesses, Archangels, Devas, Demons or other non-corporeal beings. Some consider them the elder brothers and sisters of Humanity, just as we're the elders of the animal and plant kingdoms. Some believe that we formed these archetypes ourselves and the Life-Force filled them like water into a jug and, thereby, manifested a personality. Others still consider them merely archetypal forms in our own collective subconscious or individual subconscious minds which can be used to trigger certain psychological effects. Although we will be working with these forces, we do not intend to dictate their interpretation. Suffice to say that working with them bears results regardless of individual interpretation.
The material four dimensional world (3 of space, 1 of time) is but a fraction of the entire universe.
The subconscious mind is vast and powerful and we can form methods by which our conscious and subconscious minds can communicate.
All things are evolving. All things are alive and all things are capable of consciousness on some level (though, like ants and bees, it may not always be evident in individual specimens but only in larger groups). A single neuron cannot compose a symphony, only in clusters can they connect to house a mind. Therefore we must show respect for all things, whether we think of them as being alive or not. The very planet itself is a living thing, as is the star it orbits and the universe beyond that.
The eventual goal of our evolution is the integration of our true Selves with the Limitless Light from which we were originally formed (hence the Path of Return). Evolution is physical and spiritual and affects us on all levels.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Teachings: Causation
I believe that there are people in the world for whom things have pretty much gone the way they expected. They've never lived in poverty or with serious illness or disability. They've never been hit by a car or been mistreated by a doctor. I'm glad to know that there are such people in the world, but there is one doctrine of the Hermetic tradition which I find impossible to reconcile with my own experiences and those of the many, many students with which I have worked. That is the doctrine that "causation is always internal."
Basically this doctrine teaches that whatever happens to you is the result of your own doing. That whatever it is, is somehow your fault. The blame falls to the individual no matter the circumstances (for somehow we draw those circumstances to us in the first place).
The main reason I have a problem with this is that is assumes that, somehow, I (or whoever is being talked about) somehow controls all of the other people in the world. In one way is this true, that we are all expressions of the One Life-Power and it is this which experiences the universe through us. But it does not account for the Individuality nor the Personality. The problem is, if everyone is controlling everyone else then we get a situation where the gears lock up. It assumes that I have ultimate control over the entire lives, histories and futures of everyone around me, and so does everyone else. Nothing could ever happen as everyone exerting control would cause a deadlock..
Secondly, "Causation is always internal" is the same as telling a rape victim that s/he deserved it, provoked it, or caused it in some way. It assumes a mind boggling amount of control over the rapist. It assumes that the rape victim somehow controlled all of the rapists thoughts, feelings and life experiences which lead up to the decision to commit rape in the first place and to choose him or her as a victim.
I was once asked by a supposed teacher and "Adept" why I chose to be disabled and walk a path of suffering. It was as though I'd exerted some kind of control over every minute event that lead to that outcome. It assumes a great deal of control not only over the universe but over other people, other experiences, other chains of events. How exhausting would that be if true? How much would it also be "black magic" to exert that kind of control over others to satisfy some twisted desire to suffer on my part?
If, for example, you were hit by a drunk driver, this doctrine assumes, on some level, that you controlled that person's drinking, the situation that caused him to be drinking that particular day, the personality which formed that allowed her to consider driving in that condition, and the circumstances leading to being hit. For if causation is internal, it is impossible for him to have missed you, and was, therefore, driving drunk for the sole purpose of slamming her car into you.
The third major problem is not the sheer power it implies you have over everyone else, but also that it blames the victim and alleviates other people of blame. If someone is belligerent to you and you stand up to them or complain about the behaviour, this doctrine implies that the other person is without blame, for you caused it to happen. It's your fault for reacting to their behaviour by being upset, offended or defensive of others, no matter how offensive the other person has been. You caused it, you deserved it, so it happened, from an argument to a murder, you, the victim, are to blame.
The fourth, and final, problem I have is that it eliminates the need for compassion. You don't need to feel compassion for someone who is wholly at fault for their situation. That your father abused you as a child, or that your doctor mixed up your prescriptions or that you were hit by a train, or that you contracted some terrible illness or disease, do not warrant a compassionate response because it's your fault. Conversely it also eliminates any feelings of gratitude or thanksgiving since anything good that happens to you is also your fault and has nothing to do with the kindness, compassion or generosity of others. One might even become belligerent enough to expect other people to treat them a certain way.
Karma means doing or action so that when someone says "this is your Karma they mean that it is your own doing. This is, in many ways, a simple view of Karma, for it is true that every action has a reaction. It is cause and effect on some level. But the idea of deserving to be one way or another seems to defeat the point. It promotes the kind of thinking that "if good things are happening to me it's because I deserve them, or earned them in some way." That can be true on some level, such as being rewarded for hard work. Sometimes bad things are deserved as well, like if you're the one drinking and driving and something terrible happens to you. You caused the result.
The doctrine as espoused, though, assumes much more than this, because sometimes shit happens. If you are subject to your own doing, you are also subject to the doing of others. Nobody exists entirely on their own, separate from the universe, from their community, from their culture. You can be the most safety conscious person in the world but something, like an unprecedented tsunami, takes out your nearby nuclear reactor. Or because one person isn't paying attention at their job and miss a weakness in the metal, the axle on your car breaks and you run into a pole. Someone else made a mistake, you pay the price, and someone asks why you chose to be in a wheelchair. Once my car had broken down and one of my "teachers" chose to see this as proof that I wasn't doing the "Work." After all, if I were doing the assigned spiritual work something like that could never have happened, right?
There are so many victims in the world that to blame them all for their experiences, to call it their Karma, is too much for me. The Dali Lama claims that everyone wants more joy and less suffering, so the assumption must be that we're all masochistic psychopaths if we choose pain, illness, disease, hunger, poverty, earthquakes, etc... What I find most intriguing about this doctrine, is that I never hear it supported by people who HAVE had some terrible tragedy or trauma in their lives. It always comes from people who have lived comfortably without serious challenges. Perhaps it's meant to alleviate their guilt. If they say "oh, poor people choose to be poor and sick people choose to be sick" they don't feel the need to practice charity or compassion or feel bad that they're doing well while other people are doing poorly.
Regardless, I've seen too much pain in my life to consider teaching a doctrine which essentially blames the victim. I wonder why the Canadian Indigenous Peoples chose to be subjected to the genocidal Native Residential School System, or why so many women choose to be beaten, raped and even killed, or why all of those people overseas choose to go hungry and have their land parch when once it was fertile. I'm sure there's some elaborate justification involving the idea of Karmic Debt, National Karma and all kinds of things... but in the end I can only see that as an excuse not to care, not to express compassion, charity or kindness and to lock yourself away in a tiny Ivory Tower.
Basically this doctrine teaches that whatever happens to you is the result of your own doing. That whatever it is, is somehow your fault. The blame falls to the individual no matter the circumstances (for somehow we draw those circumstances to us in the first place).
The main reason I have a problem with this is that is assumes that, somehow, I (or whoever is being talked about) somehow controls all of the other people in the world. In one way is this true, that we are all expressions of the One Life-Power and it is this which experiences the universe through us. But it does not account for the Individuality nor the Personality. The problem is, if everyone is controlling everyone else then we get a situation where the gears lock up. It assumes that I have ultimate control over the entire lives, histories and futures of everyone around me, and so does everyone else. Nothing could ever happen as everyone exerting control would cause a deadlock..
Secondly, "Causation is always internal" is the same as telling a rape victim that s/he deserved it, provoked it, or caused it in some way. It assumes a mind boggling amount of control over the rapist. It assumes that the rape victim somehow controlled all of the rapists thoughts, feelings and life experiences which lead up to the decision to commit rape in the first place and to choose him or her as a victim.
I was once asked by a supposed teacher and "Adept" why I chose to be disabled and walk a path of suffering. It was as though I'd exerted some kind of control over every minute event that lead to that outcome. It assumes a great deal of control not only over the universe but over other people, other experiences, other chains of events. How exhausting would that be if true? How much would it also be "black magic" to exert that kind of control over others to satisfy some twisted desire to suffer on my part?
If, for example, you were hit by a drunk driver, this doctrine assumes, on some level, that you controlled that person's drinking, the situation that caused him to be drinking that particular day, the personality which formed that allowed her to consider driving in that condition, and the circumstances leading to being hit. For if causation is internal, it is impossible for him to have missed you, and was, therefore, driving drunk for the sole purpose of slamming her car into you.
The third major problem is not the sheer power it implies you have over everyone else, but also that it blames the victim and alleviates other people of blame. If someone is belligerent to you and you stand up to them or complain about the behaviour, this doctrine implies that the other person is without blame, for you caused it to happen. It's your fault for reacting to their behaviour by being upset, offended or defensive of others, no matter how offensive the other person has been. You caused it, you deserved it, so it happened, from an argument to a murder, you, the victim, are to blame.
The fourth, and final, problem I have is that it eliminates the need for compassion. You don't need to feel compassion for someone who is wholly at fault for their situation. That your father abused you as a child, or that your doctor mixed up your prescriptions or that you were hit by a train, or that you contracted some terrible illness or disease, do not warrant a compassionate response because it's your fault. Conversely it also eliminates any feelings of gratitude or thanksgiving since anything good that happens to you is also your fault and has nothing to do with the kindness, compassion or generosity of others. One might even become belligerent enough to expect other people to treat them a certain way.
Karma means doing or action so that when someone says "this is your Karma they mean that it is your own doing. This is, in many ways, a simple view of Karma, for it is true that every action has a reaction. It is cause and effect on some level. But the idea of deserving to be one way or another seems to defeat the point. It promotes the kind of thinking that "if good things are happening to me it's because I deserve them, or earned them in some way." That can be true on some level, such as being rewarded for hard work. Sometimes bad things are deserved as well, like if you're the one drinking and driving and something terrible happens to you. You caused the result.
The doctrine as espoused, though, assumes much more than this, because sometimes shit happens. If you are subject to your own doing, you are also subject to the doing of others. Nobody exists entirely on their own, separate from the universe, from their community, from their culture. You can be the most safety conscious person in the world but something, like an unprecedented tsunami, takes out your nearby nuclear reactor. Or because one person isn't paying attention at their job and miss a weakness in the metal, the axle on your car breaks and you run into a pole. Someone else made a mistake, you pay the price, and someone asks why you chose to be in a wheelchair. Once my car had broken down and one of my "teachers" chose to see this as proof that I wasn't doing the "Work." After all, if I were doing the assigned spiritual work something like that could never have happened, right?
There are so many victims in the world that to blame them all for their experiences, to call it their Karma, is too much for me. The Dali Lama claims that everyone wants more joy and less suffering, so the assumption must be that we're all masochistic psychopaths if we choose pain, illness, disease, hunger, poverty, earthquakes, etc... What I find most intriguing about this doctrine, is that I never hear it supported by people who HAVE had some terrible tragedy or trauma in their lives. It always comes from people who have lived comfortably without serious challenges. Perhaps it's meant to alleviate their guilt. If they say "oh, poor people choose to be poor and sick people choose to be sick" they don't feel the need to practice charity or compassion or feel bad that they're doing well while other people are doing poorly.
Regardless, I've seen too much pain in my life to consider teaching a doctrine which essentially blames the victim. I wonder why the Canadian Indigenous Peoples chose to be subjected to the genocidal Native Residential School System, or why so many women choose to be beaten, raped and even killed, or why all of those people overseas choose to go hungry and have their land parch when once it was fertile. I'm sure there's some elaborate justification involving the idea of Karmic Debt, National Karma and all kinds of things... but in the end I can only see that as an excuse not to care, not to express compassion, charity or kindness and to lock yourself away in a tiny Ivory Tower.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Planning and Timing
Currently I'm looking at the sheer volume of work which will be required
in order to get this off the ground. I've decided that what I would
like to do is run a "test" semester starting January 2013 (Winter) which
would be a "shakedown" cruise. I'll offer the intro course without the
Annual Fee, just the course fee (so about half price) to those who are
willing to help test the system. Then I'll do an official launch in
September 2013. Intersession will likely be spent talking about ways to
improve the system and discuss future course offerings.
The Tarot course I produced a few years ago can be re-written again and I think I can plan it for 4 semesters. I'm still uncertain how to handle Spring/Summer because I know most profs need this time off to go to festivals, travel, connect with students in person and to expand their own knowledge. I'll have to come up with something to fill the gaps, or maybe not... I'll have to see how students feel about intersession course material.
I'm also planning a very short "preliminary introduction" which will basically outline Apple Tree Hall, it's structure, basic vocabulary, etc... It will be a "free" course which will allow people to get an idea of how the system will work and see whether or not this is a school that they can consider working with.
The person producing our Tarot deck should have the cards ready by Jan 2014 which means I can offer the first part of the Tarot course in Sept 2013 and begin the in-depth examination of the cards in the second semester. After the first intro each semester will focus on 7 cards of the Major Arcana, and the Intro will include a brief outline of the structure of the Minor suits. This will be in addition to courses in basic Esoteric Philosophy, Magic, Alchemy, Astrology, Witchcraft, Ritual, etc... depending on time and professor availability.
I'm currently trying to figure out the best tools for controlling the content and I think I may need to work on a server level for creating password protected directories for the audio and video files. Each semester the passwords will be re-set to prevent people from giving out access. I've been trying to decide whether to prepare user-level CMS style access under, say, Wordpress.
As for the forums, e-mail List Servers are very easy to use for the end user. I may consider a PHP BBS system though simply because it would put all of the conversations into one place with a different "board" for each course. It may be more difficult to use, though, when it comes to end users so I'll have to get feedback from people. It might be annoying to have profs subscribed to half a dozen e-mail lists (depending on the number of courses they're running) but they will be getting paid so we'll have to see which is the best option for everyone. I can give profs their own e-mail addresses to keep it reasonably simple but we'll have to see.
Basically it's all of this infrastructure, web-site building, etc... which prevents me from having confidence in completing course material for September 2012. There's simply too much work to get it all done on time. It's one reason I'm considering Wordpress, just to simplify some aspects of getting the site put together. There is a plug in I'm tempted to try called Role Scoper which should allow me to control which pages a user has access to read/write/edit. This would be perfect as I can just ADD a new page permission when someone signs up to a new course.
Anyway, I'm still waiting on server quotes and I'll need to acquire a colour printer before too long. Fortunately there is a little startup money available to me which I've never tried to access before. It may be enough to get things rolling until Jan 2013 and the test run.
I'll start taking names for that run soon and may use the old flocan.ca domain to build the Beta site until I'm ready to "go live."
The Tarot course I produced a few years ago can be re-written again and I think I can plan it for 4 semesters. I'm still uncertain how to handle Spring/Summer because I know most profs need this time off to go to festivals, travel, connect with students in person and to expand their own knowledge. I'll have to come up with something to fill the gaps, or maybe not... I'll have to see how students feel about intersession course material.
I'm also planning a very short "preliminary introduction" which will basically outline Apple Tree Hall, it's structure, basic vocabulary, etc... It will be a "free" course which will allow people to get an idea of how the system will work and see whether or not this is a school that they can consider working with.
The person producing our Tarot deck should have the cards ready by Jan 2014 which means I can offer the first part of the Tarot course in Sept 2013 and begin the in-depth examination of the cards in the second semester. After the first intro each semester will focus on 7 cards of the Major Arcana, and the Intro will include a brief outline of the structure of the Minor suits. This will be in addition to courses in basic Esoteric Philosophy, Magic, Alchemy, Astrology, Witchcraft, Ritual, etc... depending on time and professor availability.
I'm currently trying to figure out the best tools for controlling the content and I think I may need to work on a server level for creating password protected directories for the audio and video files. Each semester the passwords will be re-set to prevent people from giving out access. I've been trying to decide whether to prepare user-level CMS style access under, say, Wordpress.
As for the forums, e-mail List Servers are very easy to use for the end user. I may consider a PHP BBS system though simply because it would put all of the conversations into one place with a different "board" for each course. It may be more difficult to use, though, when it comes to end users so I'll have to get feedback from people. It might be annoying to have profs subscribed to half a dozen e-mail lists (depending on the number of courses they're running) but they will be getting paid so we'll have to see which is the best option for everyone. I can give profs their own e-mail addresses to keep it reasonably simple but we'll have to see.
Basically it's all of this infrastructure, web-site building, etc... which prevents me from having confidence in completing course material for September 2012. There's simply too much work to get it all done on time. It's one reason I'm considering Wordpress, just to simplify some aspects of getting the site put together. There is a plug in I'm tempted to try called Role Scoper which should allow me to control which pages a user has access to read/write/edit. This would be perfect as I can just ADD a new page permission when someone signs up to a new course.
Anyway, I'm still waiting on server quotes and I'll need to acquire a colour printer before too long. Fortunately there is a little startup money available to me which I've never tried to access before. It may be enough to get things rolling until Jan 2013 and the test run.
I'll start taking names for that run soon and may use the old flocan.ca domain to build the Beta site until I'm ready to "go live."
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Structure
The school will not have an attached Order, Fraternity, Coven or other initiatory body. I have long seen people very focused on the "goal" of initiation, and the previous school for which I worked expected students to send, in writing, their intention to be initiated before the completion of the first course. This is especially troubling when most initiatory oaths contain a clause swearing obedience to the head of the organization and to the organization as a whole. I found it especially disturbing when one of the Outer Court initiatory groups included the promise to dutifully study the "sacred lessons" which were sent out month after month.
I see initiation as a very important step in a person's life, not unlike ordination. Most importantly, I see it as a decision to be made between an individual, their God(s), and their own higher soul. It should not be expected, demanded or assumed, regardless of the school, fraternity, order, or an individual's relationship thereto. As such, we will neither demand, nor expect, any form of initiation. The expectation is that students will learn, and take that knowledge into the world, or maybe become teachers themselves. Alan Watts points out the difference between a Doctor and a Clergyman as being that the Doctor takes a certain amount of money in order to address and, ideally, cure what ails you. The Clergyman takes a certain amount of money over and over with the intent of keeping you dependant on them for the rest of your life. My goal with Apple Tree Hall is to help people to become independent and that they will be, hopefully, wiser and better when they leave than when they came.
That's an important point... I expect students will come and learn and eventually leave. Oh, I hope some will stay as alumni associates and participate in the forums and things, but it is not an expectation or assumption. When one leaves, they are not to be accused of turning their back on the Light or abandoning the Work. Rather it is my hope that someone who has studied with Apple Tree Hall for a few years will make an excellent candidate for any school, order, fraternity, coven or mystical based church to which they might seek initiation/ordination. I'd even be willing to invite representatives of major organizations to review our curriculum to that end.
I see initiation as a very important step in a person's life, not unlike ordination. Most importantly, I see it as a decision to be made between an individual, their God(s), and their own higher soul. It should not be expected, demanded or assumed, regardless of the school, fraternity, order, or an individual's relationship thereto. As such, we will neither demand, nor expect, any form of initiation. The expectation is that students will learn, and take that knowledge into the world, or maybe become teachers themselves. Alan Watts points out the difference between a Doctor and a Clergyman as being that the Doctor takes a certain amount of money in order to address and, ideally, cure what ails you. The Clergyman takes a certain amount of money over and over with the intent of keeping you dependant on them for the rest of your life. My goal with Apple Tree Hall is to help people to become independent and that they will be, hopefully, wiser and better when they leave than when they came.
That's an important point... I expect students will come and learn and eventually leave. Oh, I hope some will stay as alumni associates and participate in the forums and things, but it is not an expectation or assumption. When one leaves, they are not to be accused of turning their back on the Light or abandoning the Work. Rather it is my hope that someone who has studied with Apple Tree Hall for a few years will make an excellent candidate for any school, order, fraternity, coven or mystical based church to which they might seek initiation/ordination. I'd even be willing to invite representatives of major organizations to review our curriculum to that end.
Pricing
A difficult subject, certainly. At present I have not undertaken a real cost analysis (including internet hosting, printing, etc...) nor estimated the time commitments which will be required by each course, both in preparation and in presentation. At this time what I'm thinking about is really more the format.
My plan is to create an overall tuition cost, or a subscription or associate fee of some kind. This would allow students access to the resources of Apple Tree Hall including the on-line library, forums, etc... Each course would be a separate fee on top of this overall subscription. This would allow people to join without having to take the courses, or for people who had completed the courses to continue to participate in conversations and debates on the forums or list-servers. Like a membership fee of sorts.
I'm hoping that I can keep the costs reasonable. I'd like to see the annual student fee to be around $100. This would go into hosting, hardware, software, programming, graphics, editing, administration, accounting, legal, AV costs, etc... It's a lot to squeeze out of $100, but I think it's possible.
Each 1 semester course would then be around $50. That is assuming the course packs can be printed and distributed for around, say $15. That will depend on a number of factors, including the type of shipping and how much colour is used. A percentage would go to royalties on the print material. This would include paying the person who wrote the course. If they had other people write papers or contribute, their compensation would come out of this portion. A small percentage would go towards the additional load on the servers for audio and video hosting, perhaps a dollar or two per student. The remainder would go to the professor who was running the course, recording the lectures, maintaining their course-specific forums, answering student questions and marking papers. This might only be about $15 to $20 per student. It might not be a lot with a small class, but if it's larger it might be more. At the same time, a small group is much less work.
Some courses might have additional materials costs just like any other school. Perhaps even a secondary course pack if we needed to negotiate royalties for reproduction of portions of copyrighted materials (such as a chapter of Butler or Knight or Regardie...).
I would also like to create a number of slots per year which would allow students with special circumstances to have access to courses even if they cannot afford the costs. These would be limited and based on need. It is important to me that students who are paying full price do not feel any resentment towards those who are being assisted. Their status would, of course, be confidential, but sometimes students mention things to each other. The policy would be transparent in order that students understand that it is being offered on compassionate grounds.
This policy would allow a few different approaches depending on our own financial situation as a school. First there would be a level of assistance where the overall tuition was waved but the courses would have to be paid for individually. They could only take 1 course per semester. The second would be all soft costs, so they would have to cover the printing and mailing of the course-pack and any additional materials (the individual professors would have to agree to take a percentage of such students gratis). Finally, if we are able, there would be a full assistance option. Each level would depend on our ability to cover the costs the tuition would normally cover.
I have a very hard time asking for money. It's one of the reasons I hate doing business!! When I work on a project I have difficulty deciding how much to charge or what my own work is worth. I think this is true of anyone who loves what they do. With Apple Tree Hall it will be important to set memberships and tuition high enough to cover the expenses while at the same time providing reasonable compensation for those teaching and administration. The above amounts are ideals based on a cursory examination of operating the school. They may change based on further investigation and research as we get closer to opening. Costs and tuition will be reviewed annually.
It is important to me that people are not working for free. It may be viable in the distant future to form a charitable/religious organization but even then, I've never been happy with the idea that an organization should be run entirely by volunteers. The simple and sad fact is, people tend not to value volunteers as much as paid employees... even if that payment is just an honourarium or stipend! I do not know why we have been trained in this way, but I have seen it happen again and again at various organizations and institutions. I don't like it, but it seems that volunteers are eventually taken for granted, and as little as a $20 honourarium somehow makes them infinitely more valuable in people's minds. ("Oh, it's so nice that they accepted so little" vs. the idea that they're not worth paying anyway.) Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is done consciously, but it appears to be a pattern I'd just as soon avoid.
I also want it to be clear that their input is appreciated. After 10 years of teaching for another organization I had never received any financial compensation. At no point was it offered even though they're still charging dues and collecting money on the distribution of materials that I produced for them. They're selling books I edited, using images I created, and they never once offered to cover my expenses. In fact, there were many years where I paid for the mail-box and web hosting for the Canadian office out of my own pocket. That is something I would like very much to never see happen with Apple Tree Hall.
So, when it comes to courses and lesson material I'd rather pay them a percentage of the tuition collected for that course. It might not be much, and many people (myself included) are into this for the love of teaching, learning and sharing their knowledge... but even if they only get 20% of the individual course tuition, I think it's a lot better than working for nothing.
The question then becomes, how to set tuition, membership and courses in such a way that is fair for everyone involved, from programming and maintaining the "virtual school" to the production of the course content and curriculum to marking papers, participating in discussions, printing, posting, etc... to the student who is paying for access to the content and the privilege of taking the courses being offered.
It is another truism that I have observed which says that things people do not pay for are not generally valued. A course which costs maybe $20 for 12 weeks isn't really taken seriously. If you charge $2000 for the same content they will be more likely to come to every lecture and read every paper and worry about getting their assignments in on time. This has been proven in business where seminars can run from $50 a person to $2000 a person, and people have found that, regardless of the content, the $2000 seminar is treated as being that much more valuable than the $50 seminar. Now, of course, $2000 is crazy. It's not a university where we can give accredited degrees and pay for government examination, licensing, etc... nor do we have a building to maintain with support staff, repairs, janitorial staff, electric and water bills, etc... We're also not paying professors to be physically in that building, demanding residency requirements, etc..
My goal is to make sure that everyone feels fairly treated. It might be a difficult juggling act, but it is a challenge I feel is important to undertake.
My plan is to create an overall tuition cost, or a subscription or associate fee of some kind. This would allow students access to the resources of Apple Tree Hall including the on-line library, forums, etc... Each course would be a separate fee on top of this overall subscription. This would allow people to join without having to take the courses, or for people who had completed the courses to continue to participate in conversations and debates on the forums or list-servers. Like a membership fee of sorts.
I'm hoping that I can keep the costs reasonable. I'd like to see the annual student fee to be around $100. This would go into hosting, hardware, software, programming, graphics, editing, administration, accounting, legal, AV costs, etc... It's a lot to squeeze out of $100, but I think it's possible.
Each 1 semester course would then be around $50. That is assuming the course packs can be printed and distributed for around, say $15. That will depend on a number of factors, including the type of shipping and how much colour is used. A percentage would go to royalties on the print material. This would include paying the person who wrote the course. If they had other people write papers or contribute, their compensation would come out of this portion. A small percentage would go towards the additional load on the servers for audio and video hosting, perhaps a dollar or two per student. The remainder would go to the professor who was running the course, recording the lectures, maintaining their course-specific forums, answering student questions and marking papers. This might only be about $15 to $20 per student. It might not be a lot with a small class, but if it's larger it might be more. At the same time, a small group is much less work.
Some courses might have additional materials costs just like any other school. Perhaps even a secondary course pack if we needed to negotiate royalties for reproduction of portions of copyrighted materials (such as a chapter of Butler or Knight or Regardie...).
I would also like to create a number of slots per year which would allow students with special circumstances to have access to courses even if they cannot afford the costs. These would be limited and based on need. It is important to me that students who are paying full price do not feel any resentment towards those who are being assisted. Their status would, of course, be confidential, but sometimes students mention things to each other. The policy would be transparent in order that students understand that it is being offered on compassionate grounds.
This policy would allow a few different approaches depending on our own financial situation as a school. First there would be a level of assistance where the overall tuition was waved but the courses would have to be paid for individually. They could only take 1 course per semester. The second would be all soft costs, so they would have to cover the printing and mailing of the course-pack and any additional materials (the individual professors would have to agree to take a percentage of such students gratis). Finally, if we are able, there would be a full assistance option. Each level would depend on our ability to cover the costs the tuition would normally cover.
I have a very hard time asking for money. It's one of the reasons I hate doing business!! When I work on a project I have difficulty deciding how much to charge or what my own work is worth. I think this is true of anyone who loves what they do. With Apple Tree Hall it will be important to set memberships and tuition high enough to cover the expenses while at the same time providing reasonable compensation for those teaching and administration. The above amounts are ideals based on a cursory examination of operating the school. They may change based on further investigation and research as we get closer to opening. Costs and tuition will be reviewed annually.
It is important to me that people are not working for free. It may be viable in the distant future to form a charitable/religious organization but even then, I've never been happy with the idea that an organization should be run entirely by volunteers. The simple and sad fact is, people tend not to value volunteers as much as paid employees... even if that payment is just an honourarium or stipend! I do not know why we have been trained in this way, but I have seen it happen again and again at various organizations and institutions. I don't like it, but it seems that volunteers are eventually taken for granted, and as little as a $20 honourarium somehow makes them infinitely more valuable in people's minds. ("Oh, it's so nice that they accepted so little" vs. the idea that they're not worth paying anyway.) Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is done consciously, but it appears to be a pattern I'd just as soon avoid.
I also want it to be clear that their input is appreciated. After 10 years of teaching for another organization I had never received any financial compensation. At no point was it offered even though they're still charging dues and collecting money on the distribution of materials that I produced for them. They're selling books I edited, using images I created, and they never once offered to cover my expenses. In fact, there were many years where I paid for the mail-box and web hosting for the Canadian office out of my own pocket. That is something I would like very much to never see happen with Apple Tree Hall.
So, when it comes to courses and lesson material I'd rather pay them a percentage of the tuition collected for that course. It might not be much, and many people (myself included) are into this for the love of teaching, learning and sharing their knowledge... but even if they only get 20% of the individual course tuition, I think it's a lot better than working for nothing.
The question then becomes, how to set tuition, membership and courses in such a way that is fair for everyone involved, from programming and maintaining the "virtual school" to the production of the course content and curriculum to marking papers, participating in discussions, printing, posting, etc... to the student who is paying for access to the content and the privilege of taking the courses being offered.
It is another truism that I have observed which says that things people do not pay for are not generally valued. A course which costs maybe $20 for 12 weeks isn't really taken seriously. If you charge $2000 for the same content they will be more likely to come to every lecture and read every paper and worry about getting their assignments in on time. This has been proven in business where seminars can run from $50 a person to $2000 a person, and people have found that, regardless of the content, the $2000 seminar is treated as being that much more valuable than the $50 seminar. Now, of course, $2000 is crazy. It's not a university where we can give accredited degrees and pay for government examination, licensing, etc... nor do we have a building to maintain with support staff, repairs, janitorial staff, electric and water bills, etc... We're also not paying professors to be physically in that building, demanding residency requirements, etc..
My goal is to make sure that everyone feels fairly treated. It might be a difficult juggling act, but it is a challenge I feel is important to undertake.
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